One step ahead of Copenhagen summit....

After fretting a lot over global warming,its causes, its effects and ways to counter it, i came across some interesting articles which led into an entire new spectrum of pollution which until now was in my dark side of ignorance. When i said an entire new spectrum i really mean it. The reason being that, This is an untouched territory to many and i felt the need to highlight it. so my today's post will be about one more dimension of pollution caused by industrial revolution and that is LIGHT POLLUTION also called as photopollution or luminous pollution.Besides posing health hazards to nocturnal life, human beings, light pollution also deprives city dwellers the opportunity to view night sky as illuminated by the natural source of light of stars. To give a more precise definition,as taken from wikipedia,
" Any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare,light trespass,light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste ."

Some of the problems caused by light pollution:

1. When we talk about global warming then yes, it is excessive lighting on buildings, hoardings,commercials etc which tend to contribute to this warming by emitting light and heat.
2. one-fourth of the entire energy consumption around the world is in the form of light and electricity. More we cosume light more are the resources burnt to produce electricity,faster these are depleted and they do cause air pollution thereby making Earth a black planet.
3. Apart from causing pains to the ecosystem it also causes various health hazards for human beings. It is a proven study that When exposed to over illumination and excessive lighting it causes headache, rise in blood pressure and skin problems.
4. one of the most interesting results which I came across is the effect of light pollution on the ecosystem. It causes behavioral changes in nocturnal animals and lighting causes changes in prey-predator relationship as over illumination causes confusion among night predators. Not only this,Lights on tall structures can disorient migrating birds.Studies suggest that light pollution around lakes prevents zooplankton, such as Daphnia, from eating surface algae, helping cause algal blooms that can kill off the lakes' plants and lower water quality.
5. As already mentioned light pollution does poses problems for city dwellers to view night sky and there are added problems for astronomical studies.
   

SO it might feel that light pollution is not that big issue when compared with other forms of pollution. But on a closer look we come across the fact that none of the pollution type is isolated. one causes the other and the sufferer of each is Ecosystem, Earth and living beings.
Here i suggest few suggestions that we can do to at our own places to reduce light pollution. Definitely, strong lighting on buildings, streets and hoardings have to be reduced but what we can do at our own places is:

1. Switch off the lights when not needed as it is a waste of energy and we always will have to think about the fast depleting energy sources.
2. Avoid allowing installation of hoardings in your compounds or on buildings as these are unsafe for building structure and yes of course they do cause light pollution.
3. Avoid burning carckers.It causes noise pollution. air pollution and light pollution( In my view it is the single most common source of all kinds of pollution).
4. Improve light fixtures so that light is properly focused wher it is needed and hence lower energy lighting system can be used.
5. Install outdoor lighting that limits the amount of light that escapes upward.
6. Avoid installing too much of decorative lights on the buildings or trees.
7. Get involved in educating your neighbors and city officials about light pollution.
   

Light pollution till now has been the most neglected form of polution. But if little care is taken with a bit of sacrifice it can be reduced drastically. LIVE GREEN!!!!!!!!!!